(Sacramento, Calif. – September 19, 2013) – World Skateboarding Grand Prix today announced the events schedule for the 2013 Kimberley Diamond Cup World Skateboarding Championships presented by Kumba Iron Ore. A full week of activities leading up to the contest includes skate clinics and demos, giving the pros the opportunity to meet and inspire the local kids and youth who have embraced skateboarding all across the Northern Cape provinces.

Kimberley is located 300 miles southwest of Johannesburg in the Northern Cape Provinces. A small town of 227,000, the city is proud of its heritage as the location of the first diamond mines in South Africa and the origins of its nickname, The Diamond City.” Pro skaters from around the world, competing in the Kimberley Diamond Cup, will get to visit area attractions, including “The Big Hole,” and experience safaris daily, in the week leading up to the contest.

“Just outside of Kimberley is safari land, no joke, there’s all these private reserves with lions and giraffes, and you feel like you’re in the cut immediately,” said Ryan Clements. “Right next to the skate park is the Big Hole. It’s really fascinating. It’s the world’s largest hand-dug hole. Everything is really interesting and the people there are incredible. And then you have this world class skate park right in the middle of it all. The skaters are gonna be stoked to experience the local culture and do some sightseeing, safaris and meet the local kids.”

The Kimberley Diamond Cup world skateboarding championships takes place Sept. 27-29. Pros will battle it out for their share of a $500,000 prize purse, the largest single event prize purse in skateboarding. The winner of the Street Championships will receive a $100,000 cash prize. The winner of the Vert Championships will receive a $60,000 cash prize.

The contest will also feature Am Street, Am Vert and Women’s Am Street contests. Competitors earned spots in the Am Championships at KDC by winning regional contests, for both teams and individual skaters, held in cities across South Africa’s Northern Cape Province over the last three months.

The 2013 Kimberley Diamond Cup Competition Schedule is as follows:

*all contest times are local South Africa time, 9 hours ahead of U.S. Pacific time

“I loved my first time in South Africa and am really stoked to have won the contest,” said Huston. “This was such a great opportunity to meet all the fans and that is what skateboarding is really about for guys like us. I had such a good time. I really loved the format of the contest. The different jams give you a chance to decide how you’re going to go at it and you don’t have to over think it.”

Pro Street Finals Results & Cash Prizes

1. Nyjah Huston. $100,000

2. Felipe Gustavo. $40,000

3. Louie Lopez. $15,000

4. Manny Santiago. $15,000

5. Alec Majerus. $4,500

6. Trevor Colden. $4,500

7. Matt Berger. $4,500

8. Ryan Decenzo. $4,500

9. Micky Papa. $3,000

10. Evan Smith. $3,000

11. Yuri Facchini. $3,000

12. Tommy Fynn. $3,000

14th – 20th – $1,500

21st – 24th – $1,000

Click here for the full results including scores from the entire KDC Pro Street Contest.

Sunday events also included the Big Air “Best Trick” contest. The youngest competitor at just 12 years old, Jagger Eaton took first place for an incredible 360 flip over the gap. He also did an equally impressive backside flip over the gap. Sixteen-year-old Jono Schwan landed a backside heelflip body varial 360 that earned him second place.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Eaton. “It was just so great to even be here in South Africa with all these guys, but to actually win this event competing against them is completely unbelievable. I’ve been skating for about seven years and practice really hard. I’ll use the money to buy a whole lot of toys.”

Big Air Best Trick Results:

1st Place ($5,000) – Jagger Eaton

2nd Place ($3,000) – Jono Schwan

3rd Place ($2,000) – Andy Macdonald

“What an absolutely incredible contest,” said Tim McFerran, CEO of World Skateboarding Grand Prix. “We couldn’t have asked for more. The finals matchups were so close that at times only fractions of a point separated the winners. Nyjah, Felipe, Louie, Manny – they all had great runs. I know the judges had a difficult time today. But Nyjah pulled it out and took first, and we couldn’t be happier for him. We look forward to continuing to host world-class skateboarding events around the world. Our goal in starting WSGP is to bring together the best pros to experience a new culture, host an incredible skate contest and to benefit local communities through year-round skateboarding programs for kids and youth. South Africa was an amazing first stop for WSGP and we’re excited about our plans for 2014.”

The Kimberley Diamond Cup replaces the Maloof Money Cup world championships, which ended its run in South Africa last year. The new event, a partnership between the Northern Cape Provincial Government, World Skateboarding Grand Prix, and Kumba Iron Ore, was named in homage to the host city’s history as the location of South Africa’s first diamond mine and its distinction as “The Diamond City.”

To download high resolution images from the contest, visit www.flickr.com/photos/kimberleydiamondcup/

Young Pros Come Out Swinging During Pro Street Qualifiers: Alec Marjerus, Louis Lopez, Nyjah Huston and Trevor Colden in Top Four

(Kimberley, South Africa – Sept. 28, 2013) – Thousands of skate fans descended on Kimberley, South Africa for the kickoff of the 2013 Kimberley Diamond Cup world skateboarding championships. The contest, presented by Kumba Iron Ore, kicked off with a concert featuring dance performances and popular South African musicians followed by a 15-minute fireworks show.

Saturday was the first day of the pro competition with the first half of the Vert Championships and the Pro Street Qualifiers.

The Vert contest kicked off first on Saturday morning. With 50 percent of their score coming from the vert contest, PLG, Andy Mac and Alex Perelson came out of the gate with impressive runs. Andy Macdonald landed a beautiful kickflip 540. PLG had a varial flip mute to fakie and Alex Perelson had the crowd on its feet with a frontside invert up the extensions. Heading into the Finals, the top three skaters were Andy Mac in first, followed by PLG in second and 16-year-old Jono Schwan in third.

Saturday evening the second half of the vert contest kicked off with the Big Air portion. Macdonald held off PLG and Jono Schwan to claim the $60,000 cash prize, the largest vert prize in skateboarding. Macdonald’s big trick during the Big Air contest was the varial lien 180 over the gap to a 720. He also had a huge fakie 540 over the gap to a body varial 540. Second place finisher, 16-year-old Jono Schwan, had an incredible showing in the Big Air with a huge 360 over the gap to a 900. In the end it wasn’t enough to overtake Macdonald, but he received his 2nd place award in front of cheering fans and made a special trip into the crowd to sign autographs.

Pro Vert Championship Final Results

1st Place ($60,000) – Andy Macdonald

2nd Place ($30,000) – Jono Schwan

3rd Place ($20,000) – Pierre Luc Gagnon

“I had an awesome finals. I’m super psyched,” said Vert Winner Andy Macdonald. “Everyone was ripping. It was amazing watching the young guys. Jagger doing the 360 kickflip, and Jono stomped a 900. It could have gone either way for the overall, and I got the word that I won. I was doing airwalks. This is the biggest prize I’ve ever won as a skateboarder. I’m stoked on the Kimberley Diamond Cup.”

Also Saturday, the Pro Street Qualifiers took place. The head-to-head format saw skaters battle it out to earn their spot in Sunday’s Finals. The top four finishers earned byes to the final round of the Pro Street Finals on Sunday. Highlights of the qualifiers included Alec Majerus’ full cab backside smith, Louis Lopez’ varial heelflip down the big four, Nyjah Huston’s switch frontside blunt and Manny Santiago’s varial heel backside 50-50.

After the dust settled, the top 12 skaters advancing to Sunday’s finals are (ages in parentheses):

“This is the best group of skaters I’ve ever been associated with in a contest,” said Tim McFerran, CEO of World Skateboarding Grand Prix. “It’s great to see these young guns doing so well in such a high pressure competition. This is for the world championship and $100,000 cash, so these guys are giving it everything they’ve got. Tomorrow’s finals are going to be intense. Nyjah landed a never been done trick in practice Thursday that was just incredible. We’ll see if he can land that when it counts. That’s what the world championship is all about – seeing the best skating, tricks no one has ever seen.”

The Kimberley Diamond Cup replaces the Maloof Money Cup world championships, which ended its run in South Africa last year. The new event, a partnership between the Northern Cape Provincial Government, World Skateboarding Grand Prix, and Kumba Iron Ore, was named in homage to the host city’s history as the location of South Africa’s first diamond mine and its distinction as “The Diamond City.”

Watch the Pro Street Finals LIVE Sunday at 10 a.m. EST at www.kimberleydiamondcup.com.

(September 10, 2013) Top professional skateboarders Ryan Decenzo and Adam Dyet will be joining the Skateboarding for Hope tour in the Northern Cape Province in the lead-up to the Kimberley Diamond Cup presented by Kumba Iron Ore, a business unit of Anglo American. The world championship skateboarding event will take place in the capital city of Kimberley from 27-29 September and the best skateboarders in the world are expected to battle it out for the vert and street titles as well as a share in the price purse of more than R5-million.

These two skaters will be joining the community outreach initiative to take part in skateboarding clinics and demonstrations in Kathu, Kuruman and Kimberley. The activations form part of the joint initiative between the Northern Cape provincial government and Kumba Iron Ore to introduce novice skateboarders in impoverished communities to the joy of skateboarding.

This will be Decenzo’s second trip to South Africa after he narrowly missed out on the world championship title in Kimberley last year. He recently took the first place at the Kia World Games hosted in China in June. Dyet was a bronze medallist at the X Games and will be a first-time visitor to the country.

According to Tim McFerran of World Skateboarding Grand Prix, it is very exciting to have such accomplished skateboarders joining a part of the road show. “They are amazingly talented skateboarders and it is a fantastic opportunity for youngsters in the Northern Cape to learn basic skateboarding skills from the best in the world. I am confident that Ryan and Adam will show off all their tricks during the demonstrations and that this will further inspire a new generation of skateboarders throughout the province. Skateboarding enthusiasts will also be able to get a sneak preview of what can be expected during the three days of non-stop skateboarding action at the Kumba Skate Plaza in Kimberley next weekend,” mentions McFerran.

The Skateboarding for Hope tour stops include:

• Postmasburg town hall – 20 September from 11h00 – 15h00

• Kalahari Coutry Club, Kathu – 21 September from 10h00 – 11h00

• Kuruman Skate Park – 22 September from 12h00

• Green Point township, Kimberley – 24 September

• Kumba Skate Plaza, Kimberley – 25 September at 15h00

Yvonne Mfolo, executive head of public affairs at Kumba Iron Ore is proud of the company’s association with the Skateboarding for Hope initiative through their support of the Kimberley Diamond Cup.

“As a company we seek to support projects and initiatives that make a real difference in the communities in which we operate. As part of our robust community engagement and development programme we run throughout the Northern Cape, the Kimberly Diamond Cup and the Skateboarding for Hope initiative are aligned with this philosophy.

“We are proud of the value it has provided to communities throughout the Northern Cape, especially the impact it has had in promoting a positive lifestyle to the youth of the province.”